Struggle for Survival
by I heart Lyoko
Summary: A criminal in jail is forced to watch the apocalypse unfold from a perspective that makes anyone scared... In the chaos, he is trapped inside of his prison cell with barely any hope of escape. With limited supplies, Dominic will have to struggle for survival in the new world until he can find a way out of his jail cell. Can he survive? Or will the WALKING DEAD claim him?
1. Welcome to Hell

**(I DO NOT own The Walking Dead, Code Lyoko, or any names/brands that might appear in the story. Any references to any person living or dead is merely a coincidence, and should NOT be taken as intentional. All of that being said, I hope you enjoy the story! :D)**

* * *

It was a hot day in a county jail outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The date was April 28th, 2014. The A/C was on, the police was doing their jobs to protect and serve... But at the jail itself, there was only a few officers on duty, and a few secretaries. The irony of this jail being that at that moment there was more prisoners than police officers. Inside of the holding cells there was all sorts of criminals... Prostitutes, assaulters, people who did indecent exposure, drunken hillbillies... The whole nine yards.

One prisoner was sitting in a holding cell by himself... His name was Dominic. He was arrested for a number of things that happened... A car chase, possession of an illegal substance, assault and battery, the list goes on. He was fresh out of court, sentenced to eight years in New Mexico State Penitentiary, right outside of Santa Fe. Albuquerque wanted nothing to do with him anymore.

Dominic was sitting on his bunk, his hands clasped as he stared blankly at the cement floor under him. This wasn't his first run-in with the law, not even close. The heroin got to him again... He was in rehab, though! He thought he had beaten that shit! But his dealer got back in contact with him, gave him some 'black tar'... He never felt that high in his life! But he also caused a fifteen car police chase that ended with him crashing into a small laptop store. The owner wasn't happy, trust me...

In any event he only had a couple of more days to spend in his cell before he and a bunch of others were transferred to the jail. He wished it wouldn't have to be this way, but he knew what has to happen because of his actions...

Actions have consequences...

Dominic sighed out as he got off of his bed, noticing one of the sheriffs arriving with a plate of really bad looking mashed potatoes, corn, old veggies, a little bit of beef, crackers, condiments, and a can of basically-expired Coca-Cola. His lunch. The officer gave him a menacing growl as he dropped the can on the other side of the cell door, placing the plate next to it.

"Lunch time, asshole." the officer frowned as he walked away.

With a feeling of anger building in him, Dominic quickly crouched in front of the door reached out through the bars, pulling the plate and can inside. He took the plastic spork on the plate and he started to dig into the beef, not liking the stale and tough taste of the meat. It tasted like it was a month old! But he digressed and he kept eating, trying to force himself to try like the taste... It was all he would have in prison.

But he noticed a nearby TV was on, and it was a breaking news story from CNN in Albuquerque. He felt confused as he saw a reporter looking straight at the camera, and he noticed she had a look of worry on her face and that there was smoke rising in the background buildings...

 _"Ladies and gentlemen, the virus is spreading! CNN doesn't know what exactly it is, other than it spread from eastern Russia, and it has caused infected people to act berserk and attack any and all people near them! We have no knowledge on what exactly it is, or how it's suddenly spread all over the United States, but CNN urges you all that have any reason to stay in Albuquerque, to consider evacuating at your earliest-"_

Another officer shut off the TV, shaking his head with disgust. He knew it had to have been some sort of hype the media was bringing up. He thought it would be nothing at all.

"Fuckin' idiots... This'll blow over in a day or two. It's nothing." the officer told himself.

The officer set his set of jail cell keys on a desk nearby, sighing as he sat down in a chair behind the desk. He burped a little and scratched his belly, being a bit lazy as he directed his gaze to Dominic, watching him eat.

"Hey, boy! You're gonna go to the big house! If I had it my way, you'd just fry once you get there... It'd save taxpayers their big bucks." the officer coldly said.

Dominic didn't bother giving any reply to the officer. He just kept eating the shitty food and hoping for the best. The officer smirked, pulling his nightstick out of his belt and getting out of the chair as he did. He casually walked over to Dominic's cell, moving the nightstick on the bars so it would make some noise.

"Boy, you're in my house now..." the officer frowned. "You damn sure better watch yourself in prison... I know a few guys who'd love you as a prison bitch.. Mmm, yes sir, they'd make you drop the soap. You'd feel like a _train_ was hittin' your rear." he added with a sinister smirk.

Dominic wanted to punch him so fucking bad at this moment. But he knew it wouldn't do any good and he'd just go to jail quicker... He thought it best to leave him alone. Then, suddenly out of nowhere, he and the officer heard a loud explosion outside. It sounded very close, like it was right outside on the street! It caused the officer to have a look of surprise, and he ran over to his desk. Dominic silently watched him as he saw him look around for something, possibly his revolver.

"Sir? Everything alright?" Dominic asked.

"Shut that fuckin' mouth, boy! Imma go outside and see what's happening, and you stay here!" the officer growled.

As the officer walked out of the room, Dominic silently sat in his cell and looked around. He could see through the other cells, since all of them were basically just rooms which walls were made of metal bars. He saw the other prisoners were scared... really scared... What the hell was going on?

As he heard what sounded a little like gunshots, Dominic went to his bunk and stood on it, looking through his window to try and get a clue what was happening. He slowly went wide eyed with what he saw outside of the cell... Flames, smoke, overturned cars, and all sorts of bad things were out there... But that wasn't the worst of it. He saw a man with blood all over him sprint over to another man who was on the ground, wounded...

That person ate the wounded man alive... He dug his teeth into his neck and started chomping on him like he was a goddamn steak...

Dominic was so startled that, as he backed from the window, he actually fell off his bed. He didn't care but he kept shimmying away from the window, only stopping because he backed all the way to the cell door. A few other prisoners in the neighboring cells all looked at him, and all of them felt worried about the situation.

"You see what's out there?! We're fuckin' dead... WE'RE FUCKIN' DEAD!" A drug addict screamed.

"Shut the fuck up! We'll be fine!" A prostitute shouted.

Everyone saw the officer rush back in with an AR-15 rifle in his hand, a look of worry was plastered on his face. This was supposed to blow over! The officer grabbed the cell keys and went to the cells, unlocking them all one by one.

"Go on! Get! They're comin'! They're fuckin' comin'!" the officer exclaimed.

As every cell was unlocked, everyone inside of them ran out for their lives. None bothered to thank the officer as they ran out, only wanting to survive from whatever was outside causing hell on earth. As the officer got to Dominic's cell, now the only one that was locked and the only one with a prisoner in it, he put the key next to the outside lock... and froze. Dominic went wide eyed as he saw the sudden pause, and also seeing the smirk on the officer's face.

"What're you waiting for?!" Dominic demanded to know.

The officer pulled the key away from the lock... then dropped it on the floor. He kicked it far away from the cell door, smirking at Dominic as he realized he was now stuck in the cell with no other way out...

"Hope you like it in there, bitch!" the officer taunted.

Suddenly, however, Dominic watched a man walk in... but the man was wounded, covered in blood, and limping towards the officer. Dominic knew something was wrong with this man... but then he realized something. This man was missing his jaw, one of his arms, and his skin was a sickly grey color... He looked like he's been dead for at least a week, but he was still up and walking around... How?

A feeling of horror filled Dominic as he watched the creature go to the officer and sink his teeth into his neck, dragging him to the ground as the officer screamed in agonizing pain. Dominic watched the creature start tearing open the officer's stomach and chest, digging into his organs and flesh and eating it all like it was a feast...

Dominic couldn't look away from the scene in front of him...

That... THING that ate the officer... it sure as hell wasn't human. No way it was...

Was this the end of the world...?


	2. A Nightmare Becomes Real

**(I DO NOT own The Walking Dead, Code Lyoko, or any names/brands that might appear in the story. Any references to any person living or dead is merely a coincidence, and should NOT be taken as intentional. All of that being said, I hope you enjoy the story! :D)**

* * *

Dominic didn't know what to do. He didn't know what he COULD do. A man ate another man right in front of him! What was the cannibal on?! Cocaine?! Dominic was panicking beyond any doubt as he tried desperately to bend the bars on his window, panting with fear as he saw the cannibal noticed him.

"COME ON! COME ON! PLEASE!" Dominic fearfully exclaimed to the window.

The cannibal growled, snarling as he hobbled over to Dominic's cell door and reached an arm through it, not getting anywhere even close to the man inside. Dominic slid down against the wall, wide eyed and unable to control his breathing as he saw the cannibal snarling and trying to reach him...

And that's when Dominic noticed... the arm was barely hanging onto the cannibal. It was literally just bone and a small layer of muscle. He struggled not to scream as he saw the mouth of the cannibal had a large and open wound on it, and Dominic could tell at least half the blood on the cannibal's clothes had to be from him...

...What was keeping him alive? That's the part Dominic couldn't figure out. This cannibal, this THING looked like it went through a shredder. He climbed back onto his bunk and he looked back outside of the window... He was horrified to see dozens more of the creatures, slowly hobbling or limping their way all over the street. All of them had greying skin and many wounds...

He knew none of them were human, they couldn't be. They couldn't be human with how they were eating and attacking random people... Dominic sat down on his bunk, taking deep and shuddering breaths as he struggled to calm down. He knew panicking would make it all worse and possibly draw in more of the creatures. But he couldn't shake himself from the face he was trapped. He was locked in a cell, inside of a building with was surrounded by cannibal creatures...

He knew he was fucked.

Dominic grabbed his plate that still had some food on it, and he put it close to the bed. He put the unopened can of Coca-Cola there as well, and he reached into a neighboring cell after he saw a fallen cell phone, quickly getting it into his cell and putting it next to the plate and soda. Dominic knew he could survive for at least a little while if he conserved his supplies, and it didn't panic.

He then looked at the phone after he turned it on, feeling a little hopeful after he saw the battery was still pretty high. Unfortunately, however, he couldn't get a signal. Not even one bar. But he could tell it was probably because of everything that was happening outside... He digressed and he turned on the camera, switching it so he could use the camera on the face of the phone. He then turned on the video recorder, intending to make note of his dilemma.

"Hello... My name is Dominic Mendoza. Today is April 28th, 2014... I don't know what's happening, but some weird goddamn shit outside got me trapped in my fucking jail cell. I don't see a way out and this recording is just for the record, just in case I don't make it..." Dominic said to the camera.

He stopped where he was after he heard the creature out of his cell growl a little louder. Dominic shook his head, sighing before he looked back at the camera.

"If anyone finds this, please... PLEASE get the fuck out of here. It's not safe. There's shitloads of man-eating bastards outside that want you dead. And there's another one right in front of my cell, but thankfully the fucker can't reach far enough to get me. I'll stop recording for now, but I'll make more recordings if I feel like it..." Dominic finished.

He saved the recording and he turned off the phone so he could save the power. He set it back down and he sat down back on his bunk, rubbing the side of his head as he sighed...

It was literally the end of the fucking world... and he was trapped in a cell like a rat.

The creature kept snarling as Dominic diverted his attention to the brick wall behind him, raising an eyebrow as he noticed several names were carved into it, all being former prisoners who were in that cell before him...

 _Dave- Five Days._

 _King Krack._

 _Mike wuz hear 4 Days._

 _Israel- I'M King of the world!_

 _Tomas- Go FUck yourselves._

 _Jerry the Motherfuckin' OG! Two weeks stay!  
_

 _Franklin._

 _Cash Moneyz!_

 _Landon- I will be out in a day!_

 _Harper: Landon no. A week tops._

Dominic read each of the names and the messages that were carved. He thought most of them were pretty stupid, but he just digressed and turned his attention back to the creature. The creature snarled some more but Dominic was starting to get a little used to it. It couldn't hurt him as long as he stayed a good distance away from the door.

"You can't hurt me, I know that... Just stay back and we'll be fine." Dominic told it.

The creature snarled as Dominic kept thinking of what he could and should do. He looked in the other cell that he was neighboring, seeing there was a small crucifix sitting within a good reaching distance. He managed to get it and he took a look at it before he set it down next to the cell phone.

He looked at a wall clock across the room and he saw it was only three P.M. But he felt so exhausted from the events that happened within the last few hours, so he laid down on his bunk and decided to rest his eyes...

Dominic just wanted all of this to be over... He was still holding out hope that maybe the National Guard would come and save him. Or maybe the Army, or something. The rest of the country just simply couldn't have just fallen so easily, right? Right...?

Right...?

* * *

 _Many months ago..._

 _"Dominic... Listen to me."_

 _Dominic dazedly looked at his father,_ _ _Alejandro,_ wobbling as he held a crack pipe in one hand and a set of car keys in the other. His father, Alejandro, had a deep frown on his face has he stared at his intoxicated son. He couldn't count how many times he had to stop his son from doing shit like this. He never got into any trouble like his son did, back when he lived in Cuba. Alejandro walked up to Dominic, crossing his arms as he glared at him._

 _"Son... the drugs are a curse on you and your soul. They bring nothing but trouble. Dominic, por favor_ (please) _, just please stop this before you bring more shame onto the Mendoza name. At least do it for your mother, may god rest her soul, since she didn't want you like this." Alejandro pleaded._

 _But Dominic wouldn't hear any of it. He simply laughed and went straight to his car, somehow managing to get into the driver's seat. Alejandro simply watched with a frown and a feeling of shame for his son as he watched him back out of the driveway, speeding away at a very high speed..._

* * *

Dominic woke up the next morning in a cold sweat, a nightmare being what he dreamed of last night... He didn't want to dwell on it. He sat up in his bed and looked out the window, seeing it was sometime just after dawn. The creature was still outside of his cell, still trying to reach him and still snarling...

What the hell could give something the will to do that...?

He stared at the creature for what seemed like hours. The creature kept trying to reach him for every single minute of it... It was proof to Dominic that this thing wasn't human. It couldn't be...

But what was it to be called? He wondered to himself... He looked out of the window, seeing the dozens of the other creatures still roaming around outside, still walking to find their next meal which might never come...

That's when he knew exactly what to call them. He whispered their new designation to himself, still studying the ones outside as he did...

"Walkers..."

Walkers... All they did was walk; walk until they could find their next meal. Which might be him if he didn't stay quiet... Dominic knew that maybe, MAYBE the National Guard or someone else could save him, but he also knew something else...

It was gonna be a while...


	3. Freedom?

**(I DO NOT own The Walking Dead, Code Lyoko, or any names/brands that might appear in the story. Any references to any person living or dead is merely a coincidence, and should NOT be taken as intentional. All of that being said, I hope you enjoy the story! :D)**

* * *

Day Three.

Dominic carefully used a large piece of his bedframe and reached deep into a neighboring cell. He saw it had a plate that had a little bit of crackers and a small piece of bread... He needed all the food on that plate. He laid on the ground as he pushed the piece of bedframe into the cell, the walker outside of his desperately trying to grab his leg... But Dominic managed to push the second plate closer to him, and then finally managed to pull it into his cell...

He knew he was going to have to ration...

Dominic still didn't know what to do about the walker, though... He didn't know if he should try to kill it, or reason with it, or tie it down or something... Could they even be cured? Was the government doing anything to stop this, if they were even still around? What about the Center for Disease Control? Surely someone, somewhere has to be trying to cure all of this...

He didn't want to die in his cell...

* * *

Now it was his fourth day trapped in his cell... Four days spent thinking he was just a dead man walking. Dominic was trying not to become desperate. The government or the National Guard MIGHT still be able to stop this, but from the looks of everything outside he was beginning to assume that it was all destroyed. He figured the United States of America was destroyed by now... along with the rest of civilization, probably.

And that fucking walker outside the cell wouldn't stop growling...

"God, just shut the fuck up!" Dominic suddenly snapped at the walker.

That only made the walker's snarls louder. Dominic couldn't take it, as it was just a constant reminder that death was right over his shoulder, just patiently waiting for him to give up... Dominic picked up the piece of bedframe, a look of fury on his face as he went to the cell door. The walker snarled as its fingers were only inches away from Dominic's torso, but Dominic pushed away its hand and he started trying to stab the walker in the chest and stomach, doing it a lot so it would die...

But it wasn't dying... In fact, all it was doing was just making it angry. Dominic couldn't understand it... He stabbed it EVERYWHERE! Why wouldn't it die?! What was keeping this creature alive?!

And then in a moment of rage, Dominic threw the bedpost to the floor and went back to his bed, sitting down as he tried to calm down... He got the cell phone again and turned the recorder back on, aiming the camera at himself.

" _Fuck..._ I- I don't know if I'm gonna get out of this. I'm trying not to lose hope, but it's _hell_ outside. There's so many fucking walkers, and I don't know if I should try to attack the one in here. I don't know if there could be a cure, or a way to stop this. I'm worried if I kill it, then later I could find out this entire thing would blow over... I don't know if I'm ready to make that risk yet, but I know I have to hurry and think of something... I won't last forever in here." Dominic said to the camera.

Dominic saved the video and then turned off the cell phone, hoping to conserve the power for as long as he could... He's been in his cell for four whole days, and the bread on the plate was already halfway gone. He didn't know what else he could do at this point...

He laid down back in his bed and he started to think about his father, Alejandro, and he wondered if he was even alive anymore. His mother died several years previously, and he was thankful she didn't have to see all of these things happen... but what of his father? If he was alive, would he be missing his son? He wouldn't blame him if he didn't... He fell asleep with only one thought on his mind:

He was a disappointment in so many ways...

* * *

 _"Son... why are you doing this...?"_

 _Dominic was only nine years old when he first got his hands on a gun... and also when he first got a bag full of cocaine. The streets of Miami were a tough place to live back then, and many bad people were all over the place... He assumed he was an OG, a gangsta, a hoodrat... But still, the titles didn't prepare Dominic for the look of shame he saw on his fathers face when he first got caught. Alejandro and his wife, Maria, both stared at their son after they went into his room to talk to him about his failing school grades..._

 _A 9 millimeter Beretta 92 handgun was sitting next to him on his bed, and the bag of cocaine was open in front of him, and some was already liquefied with a lighter and spoon. Some was aso already filled up inside of a syringe, with Dominic having an intent to use it on himself... Maria's mother and father fell ill to these type of vices when they were in Cuba, and she and Alejandro fled the island country to make a better life for their son in America._

 _...but now she was worried it would be for nothing._

* * *

The sound of gunshots and distant explosions quickly woke Dominic up from his sleep. The nightmare he dreamed of was quickly pushed out of his mind as he looked outside his window. He couldn't tell what was happening outside, but he saw several men in military uniforms and a Humvee were in the streets, shooting at all of the walkers they could see out there.

Was this his rescue?!

Dominic had a look of bewilderment plastered on his face as he saw flares and bullets being shot all over the place by the military. One of the soldiers ran up to the window with another soldier, one holding a small red container.

"You! In the cell! Get back, we're gonna get you out!" the soldier with the red explosive container shouted.

Dominic was about to back away from the window, thinking he was about to finally get out... but then several walkers charged the two soldiers and tore them to shreds before they knew what was happening. Dominic watched with horror as the walkers ran towards every soldier they could find, dozens at a time eating each and every one of them... The Humvee was flipped over by the sheer force of the horde, the person manning the machine gun at the top quickly falling out and screaming as he was eaten alive...

He couldn't believe what he was seeing... His hopes were raised so high and then crushed by those damn walkers... His rage came back and mixed with his grief, his fists balling up as he angrily looked at the walker outside of his cell... So, with not a care in the world about the walker, Dominic grabbed the bedframe and aimed the sharpened end through the gaps in the bars, but this time he aimed for its head...

When he stabbed the head, the sharpened end went straight through like a knife through butter. It was that decayed enough for it to go through with ease... Dominic retracted the piece of bedframe, angrily watching the corpse fall down onto the ground next to the officer, who was also trying to claw at him. And without a doubt in his mind he stabbed the officer walker in the head, also pacifying him...

Dominic unsympathetically stared at the corpses, tossing the piece of bedframe onto the floor across the room... He stared at the bodies as he sat back down on his bunk, sighing as he finally started to calm down. The dark red blood pooled around the corpses bodies, some of it trailing into his cell...

He knew no help would come now...


	4. Desperation

**(I DO NOT own The Walking Dead, Code Lyoko, or any names/brands that might appear in the story. Any references to any person living or dead is merely a coincidence, and should NOT be taken as intentional. All of that being said, I hope you enjoy the story! :D)**

* * *

It was the next morning... Dominic didn't get any sleep the night before. He had no idea what he was gonna do, aside from waiting to die... Even if he could get out of the cell, he knew all of the noises and gunshots had to drawn in more walkers from several miles around. He had no idea what to do...

It's already been five days... He still had enough food to last for another week, if he had to guess. His main problem was something to drink. He barely had any of the flat Coca-Cola left, and he knew he'd have to drink out of the toilet... as much as he didn't want to, though. But in any event he was sure he would eventually starve to death in the cell. He didn't know how to lockpick and he didn't know how to take off the bars...

There was still a lot of walkers outside. The dead National Guard soldiers turned too, at least the majority of them. The weapons they dropped could sure as hell be useful, but he still couldn't get out of his cell to get them...

Carefully, and with his spork, Dominic started to carefully cut his stale beef and dried mashed potatoes into smaller chunks. He took a high school class on health before he got expelled for saying some 'questionable' things to the principle about her mother and a horse, and then he pushed her into a trophy case. He remembered in his class he learned the number of calories a person needs every day is somewhere around 3,500 or so, and he hoped that by eating one or two chunks a day that he could make them up, but he had no way of knowing how many they would be worth.

After getting the food into several small chunks, Dominic ate only one. The taste made him sick to his stomach, since the processed meat tasted like it was at least a month old, but he manned up and stomached it, trying not to gag. After he swallowed it, he took one cracker and he ate half of it, getting at least some calories into his body.

He stood up and he walked over to the cell door again, tightly grabbing the bars and trying to pull them off. Obviously that didn't work one bit, but he was sure that something could be accomplished.

But then he suddenly had an idea... He saw it in a movie once, so he wasn't sure if it could work. He knew that if you get a piece of cloth wet, then it wouldn't break. What if he ripped one of his sleeves off, got it wet in the toilet, and then rigged it against two of the bars and use strength to open it? It COULD work if he was strong enough! It was worth a shot... He ripped off the sleeve on his right arm and brought it to the toilet, sticking it in and getting it soaked in toilet water. He was happy it was clean water... He then went to the cell door and he tied the sleeve up against two bars, one end on both. He also got the piece of bedframe and he stuck it in through the middle of the sleeve, making it where he could turn the frame and tighten the cloth against the bars, making them bend.

Then, using all of the strength he had, he started to twist and turn the piece of frame, tightening the cloth against the bars with every rotation. He was struggling to do this, but he was somehow managing it. The bars slowly bent millimeter by millimeter, inch by inch, he was actually doing it! He was gonna get out of this shithole!

...Then one of the bars snapped out of its socket, going up and hitting Dominic on the right side of his head. In pain, he let go of the bars and he fell over, landing unconscious on the ground...

* * *

 _"You disappoint me in so many ways..."_

 _Alejandro couldn't believe it... Here he was, sitting on a witness stand and testifying against his own son... His wife died of leukemia just a few months ago. And his twelve year old son is selling drugs now? Stabbing another boy in the chest when he didn't pay up...? The boy lived, thankfully, but he still couldn't believe his son would do something like this... He was so ashamed of him. So disappointed..._

 _Dominic silently sobbed as he sat at the table in his jail hearing, wearing a suit of the orange overalls that he would wear for another four years in Juvenal Hall, his very first stint in any type of jail... He saw his father look at him with a level of shame he never saw before... and he never heard him say something like that before._

 _...he just wanted his mom back..._

* * *

Dominic woke up on the floor very early the next morning, his head still hurting from the bar hitting it. A little blood flowed out of a small gash on the side of his head, but it wasn't very deep and he knew it wasn't serious... He was just upset that he didn't get the door open.

Painfully standing up, he clutched the side of his head as he looked at the bar which came off, seeing it landed inside of his cell. One bar was gone but it still wasn't enough to get through. He knew he'd have to try again...

Preferably without getting knocked out by himself next time...

He sighed and he ripped off his other sleeve, tying it up on his forehead and wearing it like a bandana so the blood would get soaked up, sorta like a bandage. It hurt but at least it wasn't bad. When he stood up he felt dizzy, so he hobbled to the bunk and he quickly laid down on it, staring up at the ceiling above him... It didn't feel good to fail at getting out of his cell. He hated his cell more than anything else at this point... He grabbed the cell phone again and he turned it on, aiming the camera at himself as he started recording.

"I'm gonna die in here..." Dominic said, simply.

Dominic then saved the recording and he set the phone down on the floor. He, overcome in worry and fear of his own demise, buried his face into his hands and started violently sobbing...

This was a nightmare and he couldn't wake up from it...


	5. Liberty

**(I DO NOT own The Walking Dead, Code Lyoko, or any names/brands that might appear in the story. Any references to any person living or dead is merely a coincidence, and should NOT be taken as intentional. All of that being said, I hope you enjoy the story! :D)**

* * *

It was for nothing, wasn't it? Trying to escape was futile. No attempts worked, the walkers were still there... Even the National Guard failed to quell the outbreak... Dominic's hope was disappearing minute by minute... It was now officially a week since he was trapped in his cell. America was dead, civilization was dead, and he was sure humanity was dead too...

He was out of hope. A ton of the walkers outside have already moved on, leaving only a few dozen or a few hundred or so outside, but he was still trapped like an animal... He just wanted to go back to what life was like before... He missed watching football, he missed drinking ice-cold beer, he missed barbecues... hell, he missed it all...

He even missed his father... He didn't even know if he was alive anymore. Or a walker... He was a good man, more than Dominic ever bothered to realize... He really hoped he was alright.

Dominic sighed, staring at the cement and featureless floor of his cell. He knew he wouldn't last for much longer... He still had a little bit of food left, but he wasn't doing very good mentally. He thought about suicide a little more often than not...

What was the point...? He was trapped in a cell, still surrounded by the living dead... He figured it wasn't worth it anymore...

* * *

 _"...What the hell have I done?"_

 _Dominic was seventeen years old when he first killed another human being. It was a rival hoodrat from a nearby neighborhood, just a young punk who used a rival gangsign in front of him by mistake. But it didn't matter to Dominic, since to him he was just protecting the honor of his street gang... He didn't even hesitate, he just aimed his gun right between the other teen's eyes and he pulled the trigger..._

 _The reality of what he did only fully hit him when he watched the corpse fall straight to the ground. Now it was just him, alone in a dark alley, a smoking gun in his hand and a dead body mere feet away from him..._

 _Was it worth it? Protecting some honor-code that many later regret to have? He couldn't think about that as he started running from the scene, tucking the pistol in his waistband as he heard distant police sirens... He didn't think of mortality, he didn't think of death or the afterlife, even as he tossed the pistol in a dumpster before heading home...  
_

 _The police never found out who killed that boy..._

 _...And Dominic never forgot the look that was on the boy's face when he killed him..._

* * *

It was time, now... Dominic pulled the dead officer's AR-15 into the cell. He had tears going down the sides of his face as he unloaded the magazine and saw it was still completely loaded...

He couldn't take it anymore...

Dominic sat down on his bunk, setting the semi-automatic rifle down on his lap. He sat there for what seemed like hours, staring at the rifle as he reflected on his life... He disappointed so many people, did so many wrongs... Hell would await him.

Thinking of his own mortality, he wiped away his tears before he raised the gun and stuck the barrel of it into his mouth... He switched off the safety and cocked the rifle, now only the pull of the trigger being all that was needed for his story to be over... But he suddenly dropped the gun, sobbing as he finally realized he just simply couldn't go through with it. He couldn't take his own life... at least not now. He knew it would either be starvation, dehydration, or the walkers...

Dominic remembered a saying his mother told him, shortly before she passed away...

 _"Mom once told me that a soul will leave its body when it is time... 'not always at death' she said. 'When the body becomes a prison...it is time for the soul to escape'. 'And once the soul is gone...the body will follow soon after.'..."_

His mother was a really wise woman... He was ashamed he didn't realize it sooner...

* * *

Dominic kept thinking of his suicide attempt two days after he tried it... He was still not really feeling as good as he should, but he was now a far way off from crying himself to sleep...

The food was now almost fully gone. He had a few crackers left, and now he was forced to drink the water out of the toilet... It was gross, but at least it kept his thirst quenched. Dominic kept the AR-15 rifle in his cell, though, sitting right next to the door and across from him...

All of a sudden the front door to the building was broken down. Dominic was so startled that when he ran for his gun, he tripped on the fallen piece of bedframe. Two women, an adult and a teen, ran into the county jail. One was holding a bolo staff with blades on both ends, and the other holding a pair of knives. The one holding the knives ran into the armory to grab some guns, but the other woman froze when she saw Dominic in his cell, who managed to pick up the AR-15 and started to aim it at her.

"Take it easy, man..." the woman said, cautiously.

"O- Open the door... OPEN IT!" Dominic shouted out of desperation.

The other woman ran back into the room after she overheard it all. She instantly aimed a newly-acquired 38. revolver straight at Dominic, wide eyed as she didn't notice him when she ran in the front door.

"What the hell is going on?!" the other woman asked.

"Please let me out of here! I- I've been in here since it all started!" Dominic pleaded.

One of the women, the one with the bolo staff, ran over to the desk and grabbed a set of keys from one of the drawers... She then hurried to the cell door, finally unlocking it...

It was finally unlocked...

Dominic was finally free...

He would survive...

The woman with the knives grabbed Dominic's AR-15, putting her knives in a pair of holsters as the woman with the bolo staff took her 38., aiming it at Dominic as they forced him to lay on his stomach with his hands behind his head.

"Who are you?!" Dominic asked.

"Who are YOU?!" one of the women retorted.

Dominic dared to look up at the girls, the only sight he managed to receive was the barrel of the 38. revolver. He could see clear down the barrel... The woman with the bolo staff grabbed Dominic by his shirt collar, lifting him up and pinning him against the wall as the other woman kept searching.

"Do what we say, do what we do, and don't run off... you'll live." the woman ordered.

"M- My name is Dominic Mendoza... I was stuck in that cell for since the outbreak began, and I just want to get out... Please!" Dominic begged.

The woman with the bolo staff reluctantly let him go, picking up her staff as the other woman ran back into the room. The woman with the gun had brown skin, violet eyes, and brown hair with braided strands on either side. She had a tomahawk, two knives, the rifle and revolver, and a bow and several arrows. The other woman had red hair and emerald green eyes. She had the bolo staff as a weapon and Dominic could tell she she was angry because her eye was twitching a little.

"I'm Clair... Clair Fay." the girl with the bow and arrows said, setting her firearms into a dufflebag.

"I'm Syn..." the girl with the bolo staff said, taking a peek out of the nearby window to check for walkers.

As Dominic kept trying to get used to his reclaimed freedom, Syn noticed there was still plenty of walkers outside of the county jail. Clair, as a result, grabbed the AR-15 from the dufflebag and walked over to Dominic, giving him the rifle.

"You can shoot, right?" Clair asked.

"I- I don't know..." Dominic hastily replied.

"Well, you better learn quick! We're going out there!" Syn replied.

Dominic was shocked at what was happening. Who were these two girls, exactly?! He didn't get an answer as Clair picked up the dufflebag and then ran to kick open the back door of the county jail, Syn grabbing Dominic's arm and bringing him outside as they ran after Clair. All three of them ran through the walkers, stabbing (or in Dominic's case, shooting) any walkers that were in their way...

But there was too many...

After firing the last bullet in his AR-15, Dominic started using it as a bat, hitting the walkers as they ran down main street of the town they were in. Dominic didn't care if there was a cure or not at this point, he didn't care if these creatures could still feel pain, he just wanted to survive. They ran for what seemed like miles, going all the way through the town. Dominic could see they were running straight towards the Chihuahuan Desert, Clair and Syn having parked a vehicle on the outskirts of town before they got to the prison...

But, honestly, he didn't care if they would leave him or not... He was just happy. He was free... That's all that mattered to him...

Dominic Mendoza was free.

* * *

( **Clair Fay** belongs to **DinoWriter23**.)

( **'Syn'** belongs to **Rayne Arianna Maranochi**.)


	6. Old Wounds

**(I DO NOT own The Walking Dead, Code Lyoko, or any names/brands that might appear in the story. Any references to any person living or dead is merely a coincidence, and should NOT be taken as intentional. All of that being said, I hope you enjoy the story! :D)**

* * *

( **Clair Fay** belongs to **DinoWriter23**.)

( **'Syn'** belongs to **Rayne Arianna Maranochi**.)

* * *

Dominic was brought out of the county jail by Syn and Clair. The group of three then proceeded to fight their way through the undead around the jail, killing whatever was in their way. Dominic saw several of the National Guard soldiers were now undead, and now also trying to attack them. But the three pressed on all the way to the end of the street they were on, still being followed by the walkers.

"What now?!" Dominic snapped.

"We get to our van!" Syn frowned. "We parked it on the other side of town, but we can reach it if we're fast!" she added.

Dominic groaned as he went down on one knee and turned around, using his AR-15 to shoot at the walkers to buy a little time. But, strangely, no matter how many times he shot them they would not go down. The arms, legs, chest, stomach... No matter where he hit, they still kept coming.

"You need to hit them in the brain! That's what kills them!" Clair said.

"What?!" Dominic asked.

"Just do it!" Syn replied.

How? Why? A bullet to the heart should have killed them! But only hitting them in the brain does the job...? What demons from hell were they?! Experimentally, Dominic aimed for the head of a walker and he pulled the trigger, watching it fall straight to the ground...

...No wonder the National Guard lost.

Clair grabbed Dominic by his forearm, pulling him back up to his feet as the walkers grew closer. Syn approached a few walkers, using the blades on her bolo staff to quickly eliminate them. The blades slashed into the rotten flesh like a knife through butter, sending brain, blood and skull all over the asphalt below their feet. Clair joined in when a few more walkers approached, but she had no difficulty eradicating them.

It was all too easy for them...

Dominic, astonished as he was, quickly started running after the girls after they proceeded to run from the horde. The three of them went through some nearby alleyways, tossing over trash cans and moving a dumpster in an attempt to slow down the walkers. It surprisingly worked, and the three managed to run fast and far from the undead nightmare...

* * *

They ran for what seemed like hours, dodging more of the dead and going through a bunch of alleyways. They tipped over trash cans and moved several dumpsters, buying themselves a little more time as the dead kept trying to get them. They managed to get pretty far, considering the situation, quickly hurrying down main street of town.

The three of them hid inside of a small fast food restaurant, shutting the door behind them. They went to the back of the store to rest for the moment, Dominic feeling so exhausted that he had to sit on the floor. The two women stood in front of him, Clair was checking her knives and wiping off the walker guts and blood off of it. Syn was examining her bolo staff, finding it was still holding together easily.

"W- Where did you come from...?" Dominic asked, panting as he tried regaining his composure.

"We're from a FEMA camp not far from Sante Fe... We went looking for supplies and we stumbled onto this town." Syn informed.

FEMA was deployed in New Mexico? Dominic wasn't surprised, considering there was walking monsters all over the place... but how many camps were there in the United States? How many countries deployed their emergency organizations, and is there any of them left...?

"How bad is the outbreak...? Is it all over the state?" Dominic asked.

"It's all over the world... Europe, Asia, North America and the other continents... It's everywhere. All over the world, I think." Clair sighed.

"Everywhere...? Jesus Christ..." Dominic gasped.

Syn looked out of the front window of the store, seeing they were somewhat clear. There was some walkers on the road now, but that didn't worry Syn at all. What worried her was that she saw a large herd heading towards them from down the road... There looked to be hundreds, maybe thousands of walkers in that herd. She knew they needed to get back to their camp.

"Okay, we need to keep moving. The walkers are coming." Syn informed.

"Got it. Dominic, you gotta get up. We got to keep going." Clair said.

Dominic readied his rifle as he stood up. The walkers were still a danger, they had to get outta town as fast as they could. Syn, Dominic, and Clair ran out of the back door of the fast food restaurant and started running down an alley, getting back onto another street and finding they were already close to the outskirts of town. Clair and Syn could even see their van far off in the distance... So, the three started running, but unfortunately it drew the attention of the herd down the street...

They needed to run...

The walkers, hungry for the flesh of the people down the street, started quickly hurrying to try and catch them. The three living humans started running for the van, Dominic looking behind himself and firing off bursts from his rifle. But there was too many to kill before Dominic ran out of ammunition, so the three just kept running. Eventually they managed to get to their van, Dominic and Clair opening the side door and diving inside as Syn got to the driver's seat, the walkers getting closer and closer.

"HANG ON!" Syn exclaimed.

Dominic shut the side door as Syn started hurriedly driving across the street and straight towards a nearby highway, getting far from the walkers behind them... Worried beyond all belief, Dominic couldn't help but feel happy to leave the jail behind...

Clair was looking out of the back window of the van, very happy and relieved to see that they were now getting far from the walkers.

"I think we're good now..." Clair informed.

"Alright, good to know..." Syn replied.

Setting her knives down inside of her holsters, Clair sat down across from Dominic and took a glance at him, seeing that his eyes were still wide from the adrenaline and everything else that happened to him.

"Are you okay...?" Clair asked.

"I dunno..." Dominic muttered.

"What were you even inside for? You were in jail, so I thought I'd ask..." Syn shrugged.

The former prisoner just stared at the steel floor in front of him... What would they do if he told them why he was inside? Would they throw him out? Abandon him to the dead? He was going to have to take the risk, though... he had nowhere else to go.

"I was in jail for murder and dealing narcotics." Dominic admitted, pinching the bridge of his nose as he gave a stressed and tired sigh. "I was in a gang not long ago. Nothing big-time, just a group of idiots trying to make some quick cash... I only hung around them to sell a lot of the shit I had..." he said.

Clair stared silently at him, Syn just staring at the road without uttering a word... both of them weren't very surprised, but murder wasn't really the expected response.

"One day I caught my boss, Marco... he shot some kid from a rival hood in retaliation for a bad meet, it was just some little kid... She was a fucking toddler that was the daughter of one of the OG's, and a gang war started thanks to that. A lot of homies from both sides of the hood ended up dropped on the pavement, and Marco ended up getting clapped by a drive-by." Dominic sighed.

"What happened after that?" Clair asked.

Dominic gave a small shrug. "I went solo for a few months since both gangs ended up dead or dropped their flags... then I got busted by some undercover cop while trying to sell him some black tar. As he was patting me down on the hood of his car, the gun in my waistband went off... The poor bastard died in the ER, but... fuck. I didn't mean for the gun to go off... I swear to god I didn't mean that to happen..." Dominic said, full of regret.

He was silent for a few, brief moments before he spoke again. "So then I was supposed to be transferred to some shithole outside of Santa Fe, and then the outbreak happened. And after a bunch of days in that cell, here I am." he finished.

Syn pulled over the van on the side of the road... She turned off the engine, put the keys on the dashboard, sighed and closed her eyes as she leaned her head back on her seat. Dominic just kept staring at the ground as Clair finally cleared her throat, adding some sound to a long silence.

"Well... you did some bad things. But we need people at our camp. We'll keep your past to ourselves, but you need to promise you won't tell anyone else, or give us a reason to regret this. You don't seem like a murderer, or even a bad guy, but if you cross us then we'll deal with you... understood?" Syn warned.

Dominic was silent again... Would the FEMA camp even be good for him? Would it keep him alive...? What was gonna happen? Dominic didn't have an answer to any of those questions... but then again, he had no choice. And as a result, he gave only one word as a reply:

 _"Deal."_


End file.
